As an American citizen with left leaning politics I am trapped in a small box. I have no real political choices. I have no chance. Between the American Taliban and the pragmatists, we have shut down the voice of a legitimate American left. Yes, we still have Bernie Sanders, but where are the other voices? Buried down in the layers of the noise machine. The 200 Tea Partyers get first page New York Times coverage and the thousands who fight to protect the safety net, get little notice.

Vote for a marginal third party, or an independent candidate who emerges.

In truth, these are not choices. In a Parliamentary system, I would be a member of a party that mirrored my political leanings. I would vote along my party line and the winner, would have to probably enter a coalition with my party, the lefty party of my choice. In the American political system, I am held captive. I could choose a Green Party, or a Socialist Party in German, Greece, Italy, or France. Cripes, Egypt will have more political parties in this election round. In the end, yes the muddy middle wins and Neo-libearal (corporatist) economics prevail.

Vote for the Democratic candidate, or the American Taliban will be elected. Your rights, actually your daughter’s rights at this time in life, the social safety net, the environmental policies, the human rights, in sum all your core values will be abolished by the fanatics. So, unless I capitulate to the corporatist Neo Liberal economic policies and centrist social policies, of the incumbent, I will have to shoulder the responsibility for the catastrophe. People still blame the Nader voters in 2000 for the Gore loss. How democratic of you.

The political blackmail barrage will start:

It’s about the supreme court.

Save Social Security.

The last drips and drabs of environmental policy.

In truth, I will get a mediocre Supreme Court, Obama will most likely overhaul Social Security to satisfy the big donors that will help him raise the 1 Billion, all the money will be spent to woo the “Independent” voters, the great bipolar middle, the right will get a chunk of Congress, and the left, will still be on the sidelines diddling with lofty notions of “reason”, “pragmatism”, “the excellent is the enemy of the good”, drone, drone and drone.

The left, by throwing its early support behind Obama, gave him a tremendous win. In the process, it failed to create a left base, or voice. In that respect, the right-wing, from the margins, was somehow better at patching together a voice via the Tea Party. We can laugh all we want, but they got their distorted populist message out and ours, the real populist message, languished on the inter webs in meek voices.

Representative Democracies need multiple viable political parties. This two-party system is killing our democracy. It is merging all the voices into the status quo. Without parties that offer real political agendas, we get this mish-mash of delirium and confusion. Meanwhile, the guys who fund all the candidates, the corporatist, get all the access.

Workers have power via unions. Voters have power via parties, voter blocks. We, of the American left, were put in the dunce corner and told to be good citizens. Our pragmatism and reason limits us to the role of saps.

Let me introduce myself: I am Stella, an American lefty. I could never be a card carrying lefty. I always have to apologize and compromise. Just once, let me vote my politics.

Can I cut, paste, and borrow that response for my own reply to the President? Because that is so made of win.

Because…seriously, you can’t claim to be my champion AND THEN DO NOTHING THAT COULD BE TERMED ‘CHAMPIONING’. It’s not championing unless you get off your ass AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY, not just when it’s convenient. You can’t leave it to the womenfolk when the other half of the population does not take them seriously to begin with.

I would argue that the “two-party system”, being almost universal, is living proof that “democracy” doesn’t work. Everywhere you look you see a party on the “right” and another party more to the centre. The left doesn’t stand a chance under a profit-based economy. And neither does democracy.

The bitter irony (for Dems) is that Republicans are probably getting lots of stuff they would never have gotten if McCain had been president. Extention of the Bush tax cuts, massive budget cuts – Democrats would have fought these things tooth and nail if they were in opposition. But now Obama is ushering them through Congress. He even passed a Republican healthcare reform – and none of them voted for it.

Stella,
I have been following you blogs ever since I read your blog titled
” I blame Independents” at open Salon. Here I am again agreeing with you wholeheartedly
I was so jazzed when I voted for Obama and he actually won.
One of the few times I voted for someone who won the presidency.
I campaigned for McGovern and wasn’t old enough to vote, what a disaster that was.
Then Obama turns out to be just like all the rest.
I truly don’t know what I am going to do when my ballot comes in 2012.
I am considering voting Republican at the top of the ticket and Democratic all the way down.
I feel really disrespected I haven’t got any emails or calls from OFA asking for money. in 08 I gave him $130.00 of money I can’t/couldn’t afford. The 1st time I ever contributed to a political campaign. I guess I didn’t give enough to warrant asking again.
what are we going to do? Even if I sold my house it wouldn’t be enough to emigrate anywhere not even Canada.
I’ve done some checking most countries require you bring your own health insurance with you.

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